Friday, March 22, 2013

Chapter 2


One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean
Piaget. After reading about Piaget’s basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention at the stage of child development you would like to teach. The other most cited theory of human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-aged students than Piaget. Given these two influential theorists’ ideas on cognitive development, how might you accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?
I will be working with very young children, most likely Kindergarten of first grade. These students would be somewhere in the Preoperational stage of cognitive development according to Piaget. However, as stated in the chapter, children do not always move through these cognitive stages exactly how Piaget imagined. There are several cultural, as well as individual, factors that contribute to the cognitive development of children. While I agree with the gist of each stage and how children's knowledge develops in this sort of sequential order (you need to learn one thing before learning the next), I do not fully agree with the time frame in which that happens. To help children who are not on the same level as their peers, I might employ both theories of learning and pair lower-level learners with average or higher-level learners. Both theorists suggest that learners construct knowledge and understanding, and Vygotsky says that people work together to construct meaning from events. With this in mind, those lower-level students who are working with a child of average or a higher-level may begin to develop their thinking in the way their counterpart peer is thinking. That is possible, however, if the higher-level student is able to effectively communicate their own thinking to their partner. Along with this, one effective practice for all students to learn is the ability to explain their reasoning. Those lower-level students may be struggling with explaining their reasoning for a particular answer, but those who function at a higher level may be able to "model" effectively how to explain their thinking. 

Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development. Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching. Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.
I agree with all the strategies listed for K-2. I think one of the most important strategies to use when developing linguistic skills in very young children is the strategy of asking children to construct narratives. Not only do children tell a story (ex: What did you do last weekend? Tell me about what you did when you went home yesterday), while working on their linguistic skills, they are also working on sequential order skills (first, next, last). I have always felt that this was an important strategy to use when talking to children, because they are learning to construct stories without even realizing it. To them it is just a conversation with another person. Another important strategy I think I would use in my classroom is giving corrective feedback when it appears that students are using words incorrectly. I would correct students in a very subtle way, and make sure that they know and understand how their word was incorrectly used. Of course, I would give the students the correct word(s) to use and explain why. 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Chapter 10: Social Cognitive

Which of the learning activities/skills can you think of that lend themselves to learning through modeling?
In a preschool classroom, I believe many of the children learn through modeling. This is one of the prime-times to teach skills and activities through modeling, because children will be more apt to adjust their learning. One skill children could learn through modeling in the preschool classroom (depending on how that school functions) could be skills on how to properly serve food to oneself, and how to properly use a fork, spoon, or knife. Obviously, as the teacher, I would serve the food to myself by taking one serving of each item. I may or may not show discretion between items I like and items I don't when serving myself, but I might after "trying" each item. While eating, I would model the correct way to use my utensils; for example, not banging it on the table or plate, using the utensil to pick up food, keeping my utensil at my own plate, etc. For the very first lunch, and probably for several days, I would make my action explicit and verbally explain to the children what I am doing and why. One example might be if I were spreading jelly on a biscuit. I would explain the steps I take to transfer the jelly from the package to the biscuit and how to smooth it across the biscuit in an even layer. The main goal of all this modeling during a meal will be beneficial to teaching children skills to be self sufficient.

How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?
In the case of Willard, self-regulation would be the best solution for keeping under control his wandering behavior. Self-regulation in Willard's case should take the form of a simple checklist since he is in Kindergarten. Possibly this checklist uses a series of symbols rather than words, so that Willard knows which task he has accomplished. Since Willard likes to ask when it will be time to go outside, I would make for him a daily calender that he can keep at his desk. I would most likely make this a type of device where Willard can use dry erase markers, so the same checklist could be used everyday. On this list will be pictures of our daily routine. After each routine, Willard could mark it off as completed. He could then visually see when it is playtime, instead of constantly asking the teacher. To keep Willard on task, I might create some sort of checklist that reaps a small award. I may give Willard 5 stars to start the day off with, and each time he gets out of his seat, he loses a star. However, each day his stars can be totaled to reach a goal - which will also need to have some sort of visual representation for Willard. Once he reaches his goal, he can receive something special  (lunch with the teacher, extra free time, etc.) They will be goals do not resort to candy or really special treats of that sort. 


This is a checklist I found that is really for the teacher to send home at the end of each week (as a disclaimer, I do not agree with this checklist) but it is a general illustration of what type of list I might introduce to Willard with the side note if the adaptations i mentioned earlier. We may have to work on one behavior at a time (since he is so young). Hopefully, eventually Willard will learn to regulate his behavior without a checklist and will stay on task with his activities. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Barb Rentenbach Seminar

This post is coming out a little late, but I wanted to talk a little bit about the seminar I attended with Barb Rentenbach. I would not call this experience to be a "life-changing event," but I would say that I left with a different perspective and outlook. I was skeptical of the seminar prior to attending and I was very unsure of what to expect. 

I was amazed with Barb's cognitive abilities. We watched a video clip of Barb's friends reading excerpts from her book I Might Be You. Later on in the seminar, some of the students attending were asked to read different excerpts from her book. Barb's linguistic ability exceeded any linguistic abilities that I have ever come in contact with. It is amazing to put this into perspective considering her developmental abilities. 

After attending this seminar, I think it is important as teachers to make sure we do not discredit any student because of any abilities or disabilities. It is also to important to respect students for who they are and to join them on their level. To create the most effective and supportive relationship, it is imperative to understand our students and adapt to their needs. 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Chapter 9: Behaviorism

How would you define successful mastery of your lesson objectives from a behavioral view of learning?
Consider your CSEL intervention case study. Are there tools form a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case? What are they?

If I were in a kindergarten classroom, and I was looking for a change in behavior (something learned) in my students, I would most likely look specifically at their beahvior in the classroom. At this point in their lives, these children have not had many experiences in a school setting, and may not know how to interact in this particular setting (for example: walking in the halls, sitting at a desk, raising your hand). These are all behaviors students will need to learn (quickly) to function in the classroom.

These types of behaviors can be easily observed by the teacher, and the teacher can keep track over time if the children have learned these behaviors. In the beginning of the school year, these behaviors may be explicitly taught (like walking in the halls for the first time as a group), but throughout the school year, students should only need small reminders about their behavior.

As far as reinforcement, I believe the first, and most important step, is to inform the children of expected behaviors: We walk in the hallways in a straight line, We sit at our desks in the classroom, We raise our hands before talking. I would put some sort of visual up in the classroom so that the children could see these each day. As they learn the desired behaviors, I would make sure to point out who was doing a good job and exhibiting the behaviors that are expected of them. I believe at times, probably later in the school year, I will have to use some sort of group contract with the students (ex: If everyone can stay quiet on the way to the lunchroom, then we can have extra free time when we get back from lunch). This is one way to remind the children what is expected of them.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Chapter 8: Metacognition

Consider a lesson plan you might use. Which metacognitive skills/abilities are involved as students gain facility/knowledge in this domain? Think of an activity or lesson component that explicitly teaches one or more metacognitive and one or more problem solving skills. 
Currently I am working on a social studies lesson plan for a Kindergarten class. I am planning to teach a lesson on wants and needs. I was thinking about this lesson throughout the discussion of chapter 8 and which skills the children might use while learning. The first thing I thought about was the type of learning strategy the children might use. Since it is Kindergarten, I know they will not take notes, that is definite. However, depending on each of their prior experiences, they may use some sort of covert strategies to gain an understanding of the lesson. Possibly, just through their short experiences at school, they may be able to recognize important words (bold faced, larger) that will trigger something in their brain to think"Oh, I need to remember this." Next, I thought about how the children would think critically about this subject. After reading the description of argument analysis, I thought this would be the best way the children could thing about needs and wants. It takes a certain level of cognitive processing (for this age) to differentiate between a need and a want, because everything to them is a need! Through an activity that asks the children to sort between items into a need category and a want category, they will have to justify (argue) why they chose to place the item in the category they did. As far as problem solving is concerned, I think that any activity the children might to do practice their knowledge of wants and needs will involve well-defined problems. With this type of subject, there should not be any uncertainties about the solutions. However, like I stated before, many young children will think of all items of important need. Through brainstorming and collaborative discussion, we could generate ideas about why someone or multiple people find a certain item to be a "need" (ex: (drastic example) if a child wanted to justify why a teddy bear- maybe personally their favorite- is important and to them is essentially a need). As a class, we could brainstorm why this is a need and discuss our justification for why we feel this way. With this extension of the activity, I would not want to discourage children by sharing their ideas of needs by discrediting their justifications.